Missiles and other munitions are often guided to a target responsive to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) received through a transparent window in a nose cone of the missile. The shape of the nose cone plays a substantial role in the speed and range of a munition. Preferably, the shape of a nose cone is as aerodynamic as practicable to increase range and/or speed of the munition. Unfortunately, a conventional hollow conical nose cone induces substantial distortions in the EMR received through the window of the nose cone. These distortions reduce the accuracy of the munition and, in some situations, can render an optical guidance system inoperable or impractical without complex corrective optics. Efforts have been made to design optical systems that correct such distortions in conical nose cones prior to passing the EMR to guidance components, such as a detector, but such optical systems are complex, increasing cost, adding weight to the munition, decreasing munition range and speed, and increasing the number of components that can fail in the munition.
Consequently, to avoid the issues associated with hollow conical nose cones, the window of a conventional laser-guided munition has a relatively thin spherical surface to reduce the distortion of the EMR passing through the window into the munition. Unfortunately, a spherical surface is not an efficient aerodynamic shape and negatively impacts range and speed of the munition.